Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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26. To ask the Minister for Health if he will report on the waiting times for assessment for occupational therapy and speech and language therapy for children; the measures that will be taken to end waiting times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6381/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Demand for access to Occupational Therapy (OT) and Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) services is challenging as evidenced by the volume of clients being treated in 2017 and the number of referrals to the services. Over 335,000 OT clients were seen and almost 90,000 referrals were made to the service. Over 279,000 SLT clients were seen in 2017 with just over 52,000 referrals made to the service.

More specifically, addressing the issue of waiting times for children, the HSE has advised that as of end of December 2017 the number of clients awaiting a first time assessment for OT services was almost 16,000. The corresponding figure for children awaiting initial assessment for SLT was almost 11,500.

A number of measures have been put in place to improve waiting times for both SLT and OT services.

The HSE has established Service Review Groups for both SLT and OT to agree revised national models of primary care therapy provision that will be standardised across all Community Healthcare Organisations. I understand that these reports are in the process of being finalised.

Acknowledging the particular challenges in accessing OT services, I provided funding in Budget 2018 for additional OT posts. These posts, combined with the proposed new model of service provision, are expected to improve access to OT services and have a favourable impact on long waiters, including children.

Furthermore, funding of €4m was provided in 2016 for up to 83 additional full-time speech and language therapy posts to prioritise the longest waiting children. The HSE has advised that almost all posts are now in place. As a result of this initiative, total national waiting lists for under18s have decreased by nearly 7% from July 2016 - December 2017.